Datation d’enfouissement par 26Al/10Be et son application préliminaire à des sites du Paléolithique Inférieur en Chine et en France

Abstract: The radionuclides 26Al and 10Be in situ produced in quartz near the ground surface by secondary cosmic rays can be used for dating the sediment burial. This paper introduces the principles, preconditions and limitations of the recently established dating method. In China its first trial application is to the site of Peking man. The weighted mean of six significant results of samples from layers 7–10 is 770±80 ka. This date provides strong support to an earlier and longer human presence at the site than once estimated. This method has also been applied for the first time to two Lower Paleolithic sites in the Cher Valley, central France, Lunery “la Terre-des-Sablons” and Brinay “la Noira”. The preliminary results attribute ages of 750±240 and 730±210 ka to the two sites, largely consistent with the previous age estimates based on geological and geomorphological studies and on ESR dating. With its well-founded basis in physics, its independence from other dating methods and its timescale filling a “blank period” in radioisotopic dating, the 26Al/10Be burial dating will be widely applied and contribute substantially to the establishment of a reliable timescale for the earliest human occurrence and evolution in China and in Europe. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]